Australia is quickly becoming the destination of choice among large U.S. contractors. It has yielded some of the world’s largest projects, centered on the country’s natural resources. Photo: Coutesy Of Bechtel Related Links: The Top 400 Contractors: At a Glance For example, Bechtel is working on four liquefied natural-gas projects there, including Queens-land Curtis, Gladstone LNG and Australia Pacific, all located on Curtis Island off Australia’s east coast. The firm is also working on Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG project in northeast Australia. “All these are multibillion-dollar projects,” says Bill Dudley, Bechtel’s president. Fluor is working on the Gladstone project and, in
The data-center market, especially for web hosting, is one of the few truly hot markets in this recession. It also is one of the most secretive, mostly for security reasons and to keep competitors at bay. Thus, it is a little unusual for DPR Construction to be releasing the plans for two new Facebook data centers. Photo: Courtesy Of DPR Construction Related Links: The Top 400 Contractors: At a Glance On April 7, Facebook announced it would release details of its server configurations, including mechanical and electrical plans for its 147,000-sq-ft data center in Prineville, Ore., to the open-source community.
Primoris Services Corp. was created in 2006 with West Coast contractor ARB Inc. as its major subsidiary. Shortly thereafter, it went public. Photo: Courtesy Primoris Services Corp. Related Links: The Top 400 Contractors: At a Glance But Primoris really took off at the end of 2009. It acquired James Construction Group (JCG), Baton Rouge, La., from Angelo Iafrate Construction Co., Warren, Mich., for $135 million. Last November, it acquired Hillsboro, Ore.-based pipeline contractor Rockford Corp. for $82.6 million. With these acquisitions, Primoris is no longer primarily a West Coast firm; now, it is a $1-billion con-tractor whose reach stretches from
For the last three decades, cleaning up what others have left behind has been good business for Sevenson Environmental Services Inc., Niagara Falls, N.Y. But in 2010, the returns were especially rewarding, as the remediation contractor saw revenue jump 33%, vaulting it nearly 100 places up the Top 400. Photo: Courtesy Of Sevenson Environmental Services Related Links: The Top 400 Contractors: At a Glance CEO Michael A. Elia attributes the rise to federal stimulus funding for Superfund and other waste- cleanup projects. “The government wanted projects staffed at every level,” says Elia. The firm also has been an emergency responder
Caterpillar Inc. estimates $300 million in sales and $100 million in operating profit will slip away this year, mostly in the second quarter, due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Its Japan-based employees suffered no injuries and its plants in the region were not damaged, but the event has taken a toll on the firm's overall supply chain for construction machinery, with many industrial components and whole goods produced in Japan.
A congressional budget deal on April 8 averted a shutdown of federal agencies, but some of the pact's roughly $38 billion in spending cuts fall on construction programs. The Transportation Dept.'s $2.5 billion in 2011 high-speed passenger rail funding was zeroed out. Lawmakers also rescinded $400 million in unobligated high-speed rail funds from 2010. Federal Transit Administration capital grants were sliced by $680 million. Other cuts include $997 million from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aid for state revolving funds that finance sewage-treatment and drinking-water projects. Some reductions will not result in cuts in construction projects. For example, appropriators list a
Heavy-equipment costs are rising this year due to increasing demand and higher prices for raw materials, such as engines, fuel and rubber. U.S. diesel fuel prices shot up to nearly $4 per gallon in early April, an 32% annual increase, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Yokohama Tire Corp. cites rubber cost inflation for its coming 10% price hike for off-road tires. Overall prices for new construction machinery in February increased 2% over the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while monthly prices for used equipment sold at auctions shot up dramatically over prior
At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $404.9 billion, new construction starts in February fell 4% from the previous month, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. On a year-to-date basis, total construction starts during the first two months of this year were 9% below the first two months of 2010. That 9% decline includes a 21% drop in nonresidential buildings. However, that decline is skewed by comparison to 2010’s data, which included two massive projects totalling more than $4 billion.
The three index tables on this page each represent various components of ENR’s two primary indexes. The Materials Price Index is the materials component of both ENR’s cost indexes. The Common Labor Index is the labor component of ENR’s Construction Cost Index, and the Skilled Labor Index is the labor component of ENR’s Building Cost Index. Related Links: Economics: Japan Quake Won�t Shake Up Costs as Recession Trumps Rising Prices Confidence Survey: Top Industry Execs Believe the Market Has Turned a Corner Bidding: Price Escalations May Lead Aggressive Bidders To Default Asphalt: Weak Demand vs High Oil Prices Executive Compensation:
Although ENR’s cost indexes measure the costs of non-residential buildings, the stalled recovery in the housing market still had a major impact on index movement. After falling 27% over the previous five years, lumber prices spiked in the first quarter of last year as federal tax credits boosted the depressed housing market. But lumber prices faded as the housing recovery stalled, ending the first quarter of this year about 4% above 2010’s level. In addition, steel prices also spiked in 2010. Related Links: Economics: Japan Quake Won�t Shake Up Costs as Recession Trumps Rising Prices Confidence Survey: Top Industry Execs